Author(s): Åahabettin ÃZTÃRKï·
Lake Van Basin which is located in the east of the country, has been in the crossroad among transitions east and west or north and south. Form and functionality had been made parallell progresses to the stone bridge construction and reflected to the architecture in Ottoman period. Thus highway transporters' traffic replaced caravan convoys and motorways replaced pack trails. It is known that many stone bridges were built in various periods in Mu? which is located in the center of Eastern Anatolian region. Kaynarca bridge is located in Kaynarca village, at 21st km northeast of Mu? province's Varto district. When general architectural feature, constructional materials and built technique of the bridge are compared with other historical stone bridges in the region, the bridge is considered to have been built in the XVIIth century, Ottoman period. In this scope, revised application projects and renovations alongside improvements with stream bed's coursed rubble stone fortifications based on these projects are conducted. The bridge's application projects (survey, restitution and restoration) are prepared in 2013 by lecturer Dr. ?ahabettin Öztürk, Restoration Programme Director of the Architecture Department at the Yüzüncü Y?l University's Faculty of Engineering-Architecture and approved by Van Regional Directorate of Cultural Heritage's Preservation. Kaynarca bridge is crossed by three niched similar rounded arches. Historical Kaynarca bridge which is in the area known as “çaylar” (streams) in the west of the Mu? province's Varto district is of quite importance from architectural qualities aspect. Renovation of the bridge has been performed by General Directorate of Highways, 11th Van Regional Directory between the years of 2012-13. The bridge has been serving between the villages in the area for both pedestrians and vehicle transportations currently. Its architectural structure and static structural position may cause some problems for transportations of heavy tonnage motorized vehichles as expectable realistically. For this purpose, the necessity of building an alternative new ferroconcrete pre-tensioned bridge comes out for the future
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